The school board is scheduled to vote on the recommendation at the April 21 school board meeting.

January 20 Presentation to School BoardUpdated 1/21/15

The School Start Time Committee made apresentation to the school board regarding their findings during their research regarding school start times.

January 12 Meeting SummaryUpdated 1/21/15

The committee met again on January 12 and reviewed the surveyresults, discussed its recommendation, and developed a presentation forthe Board. Additional resources were added to the School Start Timeswebsite regarding the Hamilton Project, research by Finley Edwards andsurvey results.

December 16 Presentation to School Board and Public ForumUpdated 12/19/14

The School Start Time Committee made a presentation to the school board prior to the public hearing on school start times. Thirteen community members spoke at the public forum.

December 4 Meeting SummaryUpdated 12/19/14

The School Start Time Committee met December 4, 2014. The committeereviewed website information and discussed the survey process. A brief PowerPoint presentationwas developed, which committee members will present at the Public Forumon December 16. Additionally, the committee created a comment formwhich will be available at the Public Forum. The committee will conveneagain on January 12 at 5:30 p.m. at the School Board Office.

November 20 Meeting SummaryUpdated 11/21/14

The second meeting of the School Start Time Committee was held onNovember 20, 2014. The committee reviewed possible school schedules andselected three options that were most feasible. Five surveys to gatherparent and student input were finalized and will be administered inDecember. Each survey is designed for a specific audience to includeelementary parents and staff, and secondary parents, staff, andstudents. A basic information/question sheet was developed to postonline. This sheet will include questions as well as links to research.The committee decided to post a You Tube video and all the informationwhich was reviewed during the first meeting in addition to theinformation sheet and research links. Procedures for the December 16thpublic forum were shared with the committee. The committee will meetagain on December 4, 2014 and January 12, 2015.

First Committee Meeting SummaryUpdated 11/14/14

The first meeting of the School Start Time Committee was held onNovember 6, 2014. Mrs. Blackburn welcomed the committee and then LoisGraham led the session. The session began with an introduction activitywhich demonstrated that committee members represent a cross-section ofMontgomery County to include all regions and multiple stakeholders.After reviewing roles, responsibilities, the resolution on school starttimes, and highlights of research the committee participated in twoactivities. In the first activity, four possible bus schedules wereprovided and comments on the advantages and concerns around each weregathered. This activity included an opportunity to provide suggestionsfor additional schedules and earliest acceptable pick-up times. In thesecond activity, committee members worked in small groups to review fivesurvey documents and provided suggestions for questions and revisions.The meeting concluded with a discussion about selection of research andbest methods for providing information for the stakeholders. Thecommittee received several research articles and links to research whichthey should review prior to the next meeting on November 20. Followingthe November 20 meeting, research will be posted on the MCPS website.

December 5th has also been reserved for a committee meeting and the Board will hear public comments on December 16th.

The School Start Times Committee met on November 6, 2014. Committeemembers were provided with research about school start times as theyrelate to sleep patterns in children and discussed the pros and cons ofdifferent start time schedules.

The superintendent presented a plan for moving forward with SchoolStart Times, including the creation of a committee and a timeline forcommittee activities and public input opportunities. This informationcan be found online here.

Background

The Montgomery County School Board adopted a resolution on October 7,2014, asking the administration to research school start times. Theresolution specifically stated that it is the goal of the school boardto have middle and high school start times after 8:30 a.m. andelementary start times after 7:40 a.m. The timeline for this process isprovided below.

October - November 2014: Develop a steering committee representing all stakeholder groups and review relevant research and best practices from other divisions.

December 2014: Solicit stakeholder feedback

January 2015: Prepare a recommendation for consideration for the 2015-2016 school year

As the division moves through this process, input will be gathered from staff members, students and parents.

For additional information, the materials presented to the school board are availalbe online at the links below:

Montgomery County Public Schools does not discriminate in its programs and activities for reasons of race, religion, color, gender, national origin, disability, age, or on any other basis prohibited by law. The following persons have been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: